Gilbert Chagoury Announces US Government Settles Chagoury Lawsuit

WASHINGTON, July 28, 2017 /PRNewswire/ — The US Government has agreed to settle Gilbert Chagoury’s pending lawsuit. Mr. Chagoury filed the lawsuit in the US District Court for the District of Columbia in September of 2016, seeking to hold the government responsible for leaks of false information about Mr. Chagoury, allegedly from government files. The lawsuit charged that the leaks caused great damage to his reputation and property and denied his Constitutional right to due process.

As the complaint made clear, despite his well-known love of the United States and his numerous, generous charitable contributions over 35 years of visiting America, Gilbert Chagoury was denied a visa by the United States Department of State in 2015. This decision was based on false information. Anonymous employees of the US Government then leaked information to the media about the denial of Mr. Chagoury’s visa application, including the false information that led to the visa denial. The resulting reputational harm made it difficult for Mr. Chagoury to do business in the United States.

Today, in settling with Mr. Chagoury, the US Government stipulates that Mr. Chagoury does not now and never has appeared on the specially designated nationals (SDN) list and therefore the government has not blocked his assets. The government further acknowledges that no US financial institutions are precluded from conducting business with Mr. Chagoury.

In settling with Mr. Chagoury, the US Government also recognized that unauthorized leaks to the media may violate federal law and could be subject to different types of punishment or disciplinary action.

“I am pleased that the US Government has officially recognized that I am not and have never been on the SDN list, and that this matter that began due to someone spreading false and injurious information about me is finally closed,” Chagoury said. “As I have often said, I have loved America my whole life because it was the land of freedom and justice. I started coming to the United States over 35 years ago and have done everything I can to help America over my long career. I hope that this agreement with the government will help me repair my reputation and will allow me to move forward from this unfortunate episode.”